Ridley Scott Prometheus: NOT the Alien Prequel Details

[Noeland]

I hate to think that some folks would let a few set design features ruin what could be a very good movie, but that's the nature of geekdom I suppose. We do love to discuss our nacells, blasters, and helmets right down to the last rivet.

I'm a rabid fan of Scott's, and I'm very excited that he's returned to science fiction in the way he has. I don't really care if the chair is the same, or if the Jockey is part of the chair. I'm on board.

 

[Space Jockey]

The thing you have to remember about the derelict's interior structure is that it was originally designed to be a totally different location. The "bones" in the walls were meant for the pyramid/"egg silo" that never made it into the final shooting script. There's a Giger painting out there of the original "cockpit", and it's quite a bit different from what we see in the film, more in keeping with the mechanical nature of the circular platform the chair was on. Fox wouldn't spring for the rest of the set and made them re-use the "bone" background from the egg chamber.

The design of the egg chamber, along with it's shape and size, have led some to believe that it's not actually part of the ship, but rather under it. I think that's another leftover of the original design, in that the ship and the egg silo were originally two completely different locations.

So it's entirely possible that Ridley may be going back to the original intent of the designs in the first film, regardless of what actually ended up on-screen. Hence, the more "mechanical" nature of the Jockey ship and the interior structures.

All good points.

What I personally find interesting in many movies including Alien is the whole design and thought processes behind set, make up and costume design and why the people working on the movie make the choices they do, whether it is due to budget constraints, an intentional choice to make something different or the same as design that has gone before, and the the different approaches to design, e.g. Chris Foss and Ron Cobb, HR Giger and Neville Page. :cool

 

[Mr Webber]

Since ALIEN i have only pondered over one question, the rest is just part of the fog of a brilliant story, How did the Company know about Archeron?. If Prometheus sheds new light on that my ALIEN circle will be complete. Everything else will just be the sound of coins endlessly dropping into my tray

 

[Jeyl]

Since ALIEN i have only pondered over one question, the rest is just part of the fog of a brilliant story, How did the Company know about Archeron?. If Prometheus sheds new light on that my ALIEN circle will be complete. Everything else will just be the sound of coins endlessly dropping into my tray

In regards to both ALIEN and ALIENS, my money is on the theory that the company didn't know about LV-426 both before and during ALIEN. I think Special Order 937 was one of hundreds of integrated orders built into Ash that kicked in the moment Dallas reported an organism was attached to Kane's face.

When it comes to ALIENS, I think the company somehow got wind of Special Order 937 being initiated after landing on LV-426, but nothing more than that. Rather than conduct a heavy search and rescue for fear of losing "exclusive rights", Weyland Yutani decides to set up a terraforming colony on the planet in hopes of finding the organism. Since the company doesn't know the creature is not indigenous to the planet, all the vague grid searches turn up failures. It's not until Ripley is discovered and makes her report that the company learns that the creature was not indigenous to LV-426 but came from a derelict ship that crashed there. The beacon was most likely shut down due to the derelict being heavily damaged as seen in the Special Edition. Ripley's shuttle probably came with information regarding exactly where the Nostromo landed and how far it was to the derelict. So Burke, with the company's blessings decides to send the colony another grid reference. This time it works. :cool

 

[MooCriket]

Not a bad theory at all Jeyl.

 

[rodneyfaile]

"Someone to Watch Over Me" was great. I don't recall "Black Rain." Was that the Michael Douglas flick?

Michael Douglas, Andy Garcia, and Kate Capshaw (and she isnt screaming annoyingly like she did all the way through Temple of Doom).

It is a VERY good movie. I highly recommend it.

 

[MooCriket]

Black Rain was awesome. So many great scenes. How about that garage scene? Surprise.

 

[Jedi2016]

As for Jeyl's theory, there is the fact that Special Order 937 specifically says that the ship was rerouted.

I don't think we need to be treated like complete idiots by the studio, so I don't feel the need for the film to hold my hand and specifically tell me that the Nostromo received a command stating "You will go to planet designate LV-426 to retrieve alien lifeform" in order to figure out that the company sent the ship to LV-426 to retrieve an alien lifeform. I don't take the absence of a specific statement to mean that the intention wasn't there.

Now, I will agree that the company probably did not know the specifics of what the lifeform was. I don't think Ash knew from the description of the creature that Dallas gave whether this is what he was sent to retrieve or not, but there was no reason to assume multiple types of life forms, or which specific one the company was looking for.

As for what happened after, what with the colony and all, you'd have to ask Jim Cameron. That information was obviously not included in any story discussions for the first film, aside from some possible theorizing about the Jockeys over a cup of coffee between Scott and O'Bannon. It's somewhat crazy to think that they didn't try again. Yes, the Nostromo was destroyed and they didn't know why, but it was proof positive that there was definitely something on that planet. Why wait thirty or forty years to try again?

 

[rodneyfaile]

I have the utmost confidence. Ridley is going to show Lucas what a prequel is supposed to be.

 

[rodneyfaile]

Dont get me wrong, I dont hate the Star Wars prequels like some, but Prometheus is going to make you think how great the Star Wars prequels could have been. Oh well, maybe someone will remake them properly after Lucas is gone.

 

[Jedi2016]

It's interesting you mention that, since Damon Lindelhof specifically mentions the SW prequels in his interview with Kevin Pollak when he's discussing the concept behind a prequel.

He mentions that a prequel should not be a "story that we already know the ending to", and the "sequel" to the prequel should not necessarily be the original film. Which pretty clearly shows that Ridley has no intention of "leading into" Alien. And that there could, in theory, be a Prometheus II that has even less to do with the films that came before than this one does.

 

[Jeyl]

As for Jeyl's theory, there is the fact that Special Order 937 specifically says that the ship was rerouted.

The "re-route" part is pretty vague. I do have some theories though.

1. The Nostromo was re-routed from the start before encountering the signal. I'm not convinced. If they were re-reouted, someone should have at least mentioned it. And if it was done without them knowing, they should have figured it out when they were trying to make contact with Earth after waking up. It's also made clear that MOTHER turned the ship around and woke up the crew in order to respond to the signal.

2. Message sent to the company from Ash? Possibly, though it is very vague in where the Nostromo was going. Maybe this is how the company determined the closest planet was at the time the ship was re-reouted?

But here is what I think it means.

3. Part of Special Order 937 gives specific instructions on how to handle an unknown organism on the ship should it occur. One of those instructions is to re-reoute the ship to a different destination so the company can handle the situation without the possibility of the crew surviving and trying to call for help when they arrive.

Grr. I hate not knowing enough.

 

[Jeyl]

As for what happened after, what with the colony and all, you'd have to ask Jim Cameron. That information was obviously not included in any story discussions for the first film, aside from some possible theorizing about the Jockeys over a cup of coffee between Scott and O'Bannon. It's somewhat crazy to think that they didn't try again. Yes, the Nostromo was destroyed and they didn't know why, but it was proof positive that there was definitely something on that planet. Why wait thirty or forty years to try again?

My theory is that Weyland Yutani did try again but when the ships went through the same route that the Nostromo took, no one was able to find anything. The signal was probably dead by the time new ships came through, and any ship that landed there reported no life on the planet. Since the company still believed that something happened there, they decided to establish a shake and bake colony in hopes that over the years, something will be discovered that the company kept on missing. I figure that's why it took them so long. They had the terraforming technology, they just needed time convince everyone to use use it on a useless planet with no apparent benefits.

 

[Chronos]

Why would the Nostromo need to be "rerouted" at all to pass by LV-426?

I always thought that The Company knew something might be there, and used the most dispensable on their payroll in a manner that wouldn't attract attention. You gotta figure, the Nostromo probably had an approved & logged flight-plan right?

Weylan-Yutani sends them off on their regular mineral run, and for their return trip the Nostromo is planned to pass by the planet with a suspect signal. If there's something there, great for the Company. If there's nothing, they still get the minerals. A big indicator to me that it was planned is Ash - who is installed as the ship's science officer shortly before the crew heads out.

 

[Mr Webber]

In regards to both ALIEN and ALIENS, my money is on the theory that the company didn't know about LV-426 both before and during ALIEN. I think Special Order 937 was one of hundreds of integrated orders built into Ash that kicked in the moment Dallas reported an organism was attached to Kane's face.

When it comes to ALIENS, I think the company somehow got wind of Special Order 937 being initiated after landing on LV-426, but nothing more than that. Rather than conduct a heavy search and rescue for fear of losing "exclusive rights", Weyland Yutani decides to set up a terraforming colony on the planet in hopes of finding the organism. Since the company doesn't know the creature is not indigenous to the planet, all the vague grid searches turn up failures. It's not until Ripley is discovered and makes her report that the company learns that the creature was not indigenous to LV-426 but came from a derelict ship that crashed there. The beacon was most likely shut down due to the derelict being heavily damaged as seen in the Special Edition. Ripley's shuttle probably came with information regarding exactly where the Nostromo landed and how far it was to the derelict. So Burke, with the company's blessings decides to send the colony another grid reference. This time it works. :cool

I like what youve done here, its all solid. Im really only concerned about the first film storyline as thats as far as SRS was going to take it, what happened after that is the business of others, if any as far as he was concerned.

Id like to think purely for my own indulgence there is something more sinister and calculated about the Companys interest in the matter that SRS left a little "open". Ash being a last minute replacment could be something. Its not a matter of hand holding more a fascination with Corporate behaviour and SRS`s way of playing with it.

 

[Jeyl]

A big indicator to me that it was planned is Ash - who is installed as the ship's science officer shortly before the crew heads out.

Ash being a last minute replacment could be something.

You know what's funny? If you watch the Director's Cut of ALIEN, that specific part of the conversation was deleted. That's not meant to discount what you're saying since Scott still prefers the theatrical version (as do I), it's just interesting that he himself deemed that piece of information to be unimportant.

 

[Mr Webber]

Perhaps, but there is more cut than included in his second version but i have to admit, till you pointed it out, i was oblivious.

 

[Jeyl]

Perhaps, but there is more cut than included in his second version but i have to admit, till you pointed it out, i was oblivious.

There were a few things that even I was oblivious to when I first watched the Director's Cut in theaters and when the DVD came out.

- Added fog effect in the shot showing Dallas and crew walking right next to the Derelict.
- Bits of static heard when Ripley attempts to contact Parker and Lambert after confronting Ash.


Here's a strange one that actually makes the DVD/BluRay release the THIRD version of the film. When Brett is washing his face in the landing gear room, there's an additional shot of the Alien hovering above him. In the theatrical release of the Director's Cut and on the preview clip on the official website, the shot of the Alien is a pretty simple shot. For the DVD/BluRay release, we now have the same shot of the alien but the camera is panning up away from it. I stake my entire reputation (one green unlit box) that shot did NOT have the camera panning upwards from it's theatrical release. If you can find the clip that the official Director's Cut website had it's clear as day.

Also some of the Director's cut material managed to leak over into the theatrical cut on the Quadrilogy DVD set. One of the new starfield shots is present when Ripley attempts to contact traffic control, the static noise when she tries contacting Parker and Lambert, and the re-colored cargo bay when Brett tries to find Jonsey. All of these were fixed for the BluRay release.

And if you have the original ALIENS DVD or Quadrilogy version, you might want to hold on to those because they also contain some things that are slightly different in the BluRay release. The continuity error of Ripley grabbing the wrong weapons before duct taping them together is fixed (In case you're keeping track, It was fixed for the Special Edition Laser Disc, unfixed for both versions on both DVD releases, and finally fixed again for both versions on the BluRay) and Bishop's exposed lower body when he's grabbing Newt has been digitally removed. These fixes are present on both cuts of the film on BluRay, so if you have the Quadrilogy set, that's the most true version of the Theatrical Cut of ALIENS available.

Now....

:cool *cough* *cough*

Who wants to place their bets on a Prometheus Director's Cut/Special Edition/Extended Edition when it gets released on BluRay/DVD?

 

[Jedi2016]

I guess that depends on how happy he is with the theatrical cut versus what's laying on the cutting room floor, and whether the studio takes an axe to the film after he turns it over. You'd think that someone like Ridley Scott would be immune to such nonsense, but they keep doing it to him. So we'll have to see.

And just because he's the "father" of the Director's Cut doesn't necessarily mean that the DC will be better, even in this case. The DC of Alien certainly wasn't, and he said so himself.

 

[Jeyl]

And just because he's the "father" of the Director's Cut doesn't necessarily mean that the DC will be better, even in this case. The DC of Alien certainly wasn't, and he said so himself.

Ridley Scott also doesn't seem opposed to having extended cuts of his films even though he was very happy with the end result. Gladiator for instance got an extended edition even in his introduction he was just fine with the original, and Black Hawk down got an extended cut to, though Ridley probably wasn't involved with that one as he was with Gladiator. Kingdom of Heaven on the other hand is a big exception, with the Director's Cut being a far better version of the original theatrical version. I love that cut. His handling of Blade Runner was probably the biggest change of opinion I had about George Lucas' treatment of Star Wars. With Blade Runner, you could watch up to FIVE DIFFERENT VERSIONS of the film, all restored and remastered to a great degree, where Lucas just fills us with PR crap that doesn't make sense on any stretch.

While I will always prefer the original cut of ALIEN, there are two scenes that I will miss that were in the Director's Cut.

1. The Alien Transmission. I LOVED the new sound design they went with for the transmission. If you listen closely, the humming sound that plays underneath the static is actually the main title theme to the film. So the music you hear at the start of the film when it pans across LV-426 is actually the alien transmission. I thought that was brilliant. Jerry Goldsmith incorporated!

2. Brett's Death. This one scene almost made me scream out "I LOVE IT" in the theater when I saw it. I liked how the scene works in terms of how it transitions to the next scene with Parker explaining what he saw, and seeing the Cat's face looking up with Parker screaming "BRETT!!" really get me.

I do hope that Scott releases Prometheus in a way that doesn't leave him or audiances thinking "Something is missing". I skipped Robin Hood so I wouldn't know what was cut or altered on the BluRay/DVD release.